Noreascon Program Notes

Don't mind me, I'm not really posting content, just dumping possible Noreascon panels of interest somewhere where I can find them later.

Hey, prince_eric: you coming to this? Friday night dinner, even if you aren't?

Red stars are must-sees; red question marks are strong possibilities.

Thursday (even 1:30 is probably too early an arrival):

• 1:30 p Hampton: Reading Debra Doyle, James Macdonald

• 2:00 p H206: Welcome to the SF Community: Enjoying the Worldcon An orientation seminar on the background of the World Science Fiction Convention and tips on making the most of the con. Janice Gelb (m), Rich Lynch, Patrick Molloy, Sharon Sbarsky, Kevin Standlee
• 2:00 p H302: Where Do Elves Come From? Elves have their roots deep in European folklore, and have also burrowed deeply into modern fantasy literature. Why is this? What makes elves so interesting? What about them appeals to our psyches? Are there different kinds of elves? Are Tolkien's elves, beings who are almost preternatural humans, different in kind for the cute Victorian elves or from the grimmer elven folk of Anderson's Broken Sword"? And what about the modern elves that appear in the night in many urban fantasies . . . why are they there? What is the significance of a separate, magical or supernatural race of human-like beings? Esther Friesner, Theodora Goss, Kathy Morrow (m), Vera Nazarian, Terry Pratchett
• 2:00 p H312: Mind the plot holes dear, dear Give examples of various discrepancies/problems with details from any piece of SF/F and try to categorize them (examples: temporal, silly, boneheaded, etc). How could the story be saved? Grant Carrington, Sharon Lee (m), Louise Marley, Tamora Pierce, Connie Willis

• 3:00 p H203: Good and Evil in Genre Literature Do science fiction, fantasy and horror have underlying moral perspectives? What are they? Do they differ? If so, why? Craig Gardner, Nancy Kress, Paul Levinson, James Macdonald (m)
• 3:00 p H302: The Art and Science of Glamour Looking at layers of reality, at "Lords and Ladies" -- elves (and humans) who bury their natures. How do they do it? Why do we love it? Greer Gilman, Simon R. Green, Terry Pratchett, Madeleine E. Robins (m)

• [?] 4:00 p H204: Tolkien's Techniques It has been said that if Tolkien had been a professional writer (in the usual sense of the word) he would not have dared to do some of the things he did (such as tell large chunks of the story in flashback.) His techniques worked very well . . . why? How hard is it to pull off, anyway? Discuss. Daniel Grotta, Pete Grubbs, Elise Matthesen (m), Patrick Nielsen Hayden, Jo Walton
• [?] 4:00 p H305: As You Know, Bob: The Positives and Negatives of Infodumps in Writing Exposition can be quick or subtle, or straight, or with a twist. It can stop the story cold, or provide plot (and stylistic) impact. It can be smooth or lumpy, necessary or gratuitous. The panel will discuss expository theory and practice, and answer the eternal question: "What does Bob really know?" Debra Doyle, Terry McGarry (m), Teresa Nielsen Hayden

• [?] 5:00 p H301: Deconstructing Mary Sue Could it be the most useful literary concept of our Me Millennium? We'll discuss myriad examples, from fanfic, flicks, and major SF works that should be ashamed of themselves. You see, in the classic Mary Sue story, a character happens to be amazingly like the author, except said MS is incredibly more attractive, accomplished, and most of all accepted nay beloved than anybody outside of a blatant wish fulfillment. The Audience is Warned, however, that the latter portion of the hour may turn into a rant on the subject of Ambient Misinformation about Writing and Publishing . . . Teresa Nielsen Hayden [I've seen a prior incarnation of this talk, but the rant sounds interesting . . . ]
• 5:00 p H311: The Shadow of the Torturer: The Writer as God Do you abuse your characters? Do you do this to further the story, or because it's necessary to make the story more believable . . . or, to exorcise your own demons? Writing's potential for self-revelation may be its most powerful and terrifying aspect. How do you cope when your story is telling you something you don't want to know about the dark shadow of the self . . . ? Lois McMaster Bujold, Barbara Chepaitis (m), James Alan Gardner, Tamara Jones, Elizabeth Moon, Uncle River

• [*] Party setup help somewhere in here

• 6:00 p H312: The Quest For what? Irregardless . . . how are quests really about a search for identity and "adulthood"? Mindy Klasky, James Macdonald, Madeleine E. Robins, Jeff VanderMeer (m)
• 6:00 p Hampton: Reading Wen Spencer

• 6:30 p H301: Birds of Prey Birds of Prey have long fascinated writers and readers of speculative fiction. Learn more about them from someone who has studied them for more than thirty years and has used them extensively in his fiction. While geared toward writers who wish to become more familiar with raptors and owls, this talk will interest anyone curious about these marvelous creatures. David B. Coe

• [*] 7:00 p H209: Ask Dr. Mike What can you get for the man who knows everything? Science fiction's wildly acclaimed answer to Drs. Hawking, Ruth, Phil, and Laura asks only for the gift of your most challenging questions about science, philosophy, history, the meaning and origin of life, and that awkward con restaurant invitation thing . . . John M. Ford

• [?] 9:00 p H209: Readings from the Published Works of Absent Writers The doorknob opened a blue eye . . . open mike reading of your favorite excerpts. Bring your own favorite 3-minute pieces (that are particularly meaningful to you) and read the, Join the read-in. jan howard finder, Mary Kay Kare [The idea strongly appeals to my inner fourteen-year-old. And I could kill so much time looking for the right thing . . . ]
• [*] 9:00 : party!

• ETA: 10:00 p H210: On Venus Have We Got a Rabbi . . . with the original intonations . . . William Tenn

Friday:

• 9:30 a H203: Anglo-Saxon Influences on Modern Fantasy The Rohirrim have a lot to answer for . . . Debra Doyle

• 10:00 a H311: The Enchanted Apple: New York in SF and Fantasy The very first history of New York City, written by Washington Irving (under the name of Deitrich Knickerbocker) in 1809 was a work of fantasy. Since that time, NYC has appeared repeatedly in works of science fiction and fantasy. How has The City been portrayed? What makes it such a perfect locale for the fantabulist? Michael A. Burstein, Esther Friesner, George R. R. Martin, Madeleine E. Robins, Susan Shwartz (m)

• 11:00 a H204: Building the Buzz What makes one novel merely successful, and another a blockbuster best seller? Is it he buzz the latter generates? What make one book have buzz and another not? Can you cite examples? What kinds of buzz are there-and what is most effective at promoting a book? What can a publisher do to generate or enhance the buzz for a particular book? Jim Butcher, Craig Engler, Andrew Wheeler (m)

• [?] ETA: 11:30 lunch?

• 12:00 n H107: What's New From DAW A presentation of the upcoming schedule and a Q&A with DAW editors and authors. Moderated by Debra Euler, Managing Editor.
• 12:00 n H306: Archetypes in Fantasy: The Princess, Alone Who is she, and why is she alone? How can she ever find her way out of the Tower? Diane Duane, Justine Larbalestier, Michelle Sagara West (m), Jo Walton, Paul Witcover
• 12:00 n ConSuite: Kaffeeklatsch Thomas Harlan, Tamora Pierce, George H. Scithers, Allen Steele

• 1:00 p H203: The Two Cultures in F&SF: Science Confronts the Humanities Decades ago, C.P. Snow defined the "Two Cultures" of technical intellectuals and literary intellectuals. The split is still with us. How does it influence our fantasy and science fiction? What works, what authors manage to bridge the gap? What works or authors make it deeper? Ctein (m), Matthew Jarpe, Nancy Kress, Justine Larbalestier
• 1:00 p H205: The Two Sides of Gollum Gollum is unique; there's nobody quite like him in fantasy. (Or, is there?) And in many ways, he's the true tragic figure of The Lord of the Rings, evoking at times anger, contempt, and pity from the readers. The panel looks at the character of Gollum (whether Stinker or Slinker) and how he fits into Tolkien's world and Tolkien's story. Greer Gilman, Daniel Grotta, Darrell Schweitzer, Brenda Sutton, Ann Tonsor Zeddies (m)
• [?] 1:00 p H311: One Day in the Life of an Editor An hour by hour account of what an editor actually does. It's 11:00 a.m.-do you know where your manuscript is? Tina Beychok, Ellen Datlow, Scott Edelman, Jim Grimsley, Sheila Williams (m)

• [*] 2:00 p Hampton: Reading (1 hour) Lois McMaster Bujold

• 3:00 p H307: Edged Weapons-and How Writers Get Them Wrong They're heavier to hold than to read about. They cause more accidental damage than you'd think. They go dull if you so much as look at them. What else haven't we been told about Excalibur and its edgy ilk? Hank Reinhardt
• 3:00 p H309: Rhythm, Meter, and the Use of Language Unresolved anapests? Short. Choppy. Sentence. Fragments? Changing viewpoints mid-paragraph? What are some of the ways to vary the "beat" of prose, and how (why?) are these methods used? How can they be used well? Badly? How can particular writing styles attract or repel readers? Greer Gilman (m), Lee Martindale, David Marusek, Martha Soukup, Jo Walton

• 4:00 p H204: Crossing Over Is cross-genre writing becoming more popular? (Why or why not?) What are the special challenges of it? The rewards? Lisa Barnett, Joshua Bilmes, Laura Anne Gilman (m), Charlaine Harris, Sue Krinard, Madeleine E. Robins

• 5:00 p H307: Making Necklaces with Stories in Them Elise Matthesen
• 5:00 p Hampton: Reading Tamora Pierce

• 6:00 p H204: Dialogue Michael Swanwick, Jo Walton [What is this?]

• [?] ETA: Tor party tonight?

Saturday:

• 10:00 a H107: What's New from Ace/Roc Ginjer Buchanan
• [?] 10:00 a H304: Reading (1-hour) Neil Gaiman

• [*] 11:00 a H306: Fantasy of Manners How do we define it? How do we draw the line, and what is its appeal? Is it a truth (universally acknowledged . . . ) that only women can write it? Lois McMaster Bujold, Ellen Kushner, Madeleine E. Robins (m), Jo Walton [This I will semi-live-blog if they want me to blog at all.]
• 11:00 a Grand Ballroom: Terry Pratchett GoH Speech Our Guest of Honor became Britain's best-selling author by writing funny fantasies. He once said, "We are trying to understand the fundamental workings of the universe by a language devised for telling another where the best fruit is." Come by and he'll probably say more things like that. Terry Pratchett [So someone better take good notes at this.]

• 12:00 n H301: What is the Rock's Motivation in This Scene? How do you keep control of your cast of characters and explain them to the reader without stopping the story? Theodora Goss, Stephen P. Kelner (m), Chris Moriarty, Martha Soukup, Jo Walton [But more likely typing up my scribbles on the FoM panel.]

• 1:00 p H310: Order in the (Alien?) Court! What happens when you're accused of a crime on another planet? How have writers handled this in the past-from Heinlein's "Have Spacesuit, will Travel" to the Klingon court in "The Undiscovered Country" Is it possible to write about methods of dispensing justice without depending on Terran history? Is the idea of justice itself an Earth concept? While we're on the topic of justice and crime, will the Demolished Man's psychic cops actually prevent crime? What are the implications of the increasing dependence on technology in police and forensics work? How will we catch Gully Foyle? Christopher Cevasco (m), Harold Feld, John G. Hemry, Jack Speer, Lisa J. Steele
• 1:00 p H311: Reinventing Genre Fantasy With so much genre fantasy being published, what can be done to refresh our jaded palates? Hilari L. Bell, Debra Doyle (m), Elizabeth Hand, Alex Irvine, Katherine Kurtz
• 1:00 p Autographing: Kage Baker, Jim Butcher, Tanya Huff, Don Maitz, Terry McGarry, Benjamin Rosenbaum, Nick Sagan

• 2:00 p H301: What Do You Passionately Read? . . . Besides Fantasy and SF? Of course you want to finish that new trilogy (which has suddenly expanded to five books), but even the most devoted fans have other interests. Bibliophiles get together to discuss the non-SF/F books they love, from historical fiction to murder mysteries to biographies, and other stops in between. Chris Barkley (m), Laura Anne Gilman, Mary Kay Kare, Toni L. P. Kelner, Lawrence Watt-Evans
• 2:00 p Autographing: Lois McMaster Bujold, David B. Coe, Kathryn Cramer, Diane Duane, Phyllis Eisenstein, George R. R. Martin, Jeff VanderMeer

• [?] 3:00 p H206: Tough Love for New Writers Give it up: there are already too many writers. Let's face it, even with a lot of help, the best to be expected from most new writers is that they will produce a lot of mediocre sludge. In fact, most people who attend "how to" panels at conventions won't even do that well. Moreover, there are is already so much good to read that the field doesn't need such sludge. The panel's advice to wannabe writers: give it up now and get a real job. (An honest appraisal of the new writer's chances.) Gavin Grant, David G. Hartwell, Steve Miller, Priscilla Olson (m), Teresa Nielsen Hayden [Some of the online places I hang out would probably be interested in a report on this. I'm trying not to let this influence my choices too much, though.]
• 3:00 p H305: Alternate History Challenge Match Panelists get a weird alternate present, and have to reverse-engineer how it came about . . . Michael Dobson, Mitchell Freedman, Peter J. Heck, Evelyn C. Leeper, S. M. Stirling, Toni Weisskopf (m)
• 3:00 p H309: Authors or Editors: Who is Closer to the Readers? Magazine submissions are judged by editors whereas contests are usually judged by writers. Do they select different types of stories? If they do select different types of stories, then which of them (editors or authors) are more representative of the tastes of the readers? Paul DiFilippo (m), Carl Frederick, Beth Meacham, Patrick Nielsen Hayden
• 3:00 p H311: The SF/F Detective Why are so many SF/F detectives cast in the somewhat pulpy hard-boiled Private Eye mode? (And is there anything wrong with that???) Discuss what makes a good genre mystery guy. Charles Ardai (m), Barbara Chepaitis, Simon R. Green, Paul Levinson, John Zakour [Why is Jim Butcher not on this? Glen Cook?]
• 3:00 p Liberty A: Bujold Fandom Discussion Group (Jerrie Adkins)

• 3:30 p Hampton: Reading Jo Walton

• 4:00 p H107: Eos Presents Upcoming SF/F Titles Eos Senior Editor Diana Gill and Jack Womack present the upcoming titles of interest from Eos and HarperCollins, including books by Neal Stephenson, Terry Pratchett, Dave Duncan, Sean Russell and more. Join us for handouts, contests, and candy, plus the best new science fiction and fantasy for Fall 2004.
• 4:00 p H302: The Numinous in Science Fiction and Fantasy Okay, we know that "numinous" isn't a noun, but there is something, well, noun-like in the way some authors can invoke a feeling about stuff beyond our everyday experience. But the numinous does seem to show up more in our genre than in most others. Why? Why can some authors do this so effortlessly, while others try to get us there and don't quite make it? (And it is so often missed!) And why would a bunch of rational, science oriented people care about that kind of thing in the first place? Is this because SF is at its roots interested in the same things as fantasy and fantasy has a particularly close relationship with the numinous, or is it just that the numinous is a great way to get a Sensawonder fix? Lois McMaster Bujold, James Macdonald (m), James Morrow, Deborah Ross
• 4:00 p H307: The Fruit Fly Genome, in C Major Discussion and demonstration of a program to translate the fruit fly genome into "music." Carl Frederick [I'm probably not going to go to this, but I remember him enthusing about it at Albacon, and I bet it will be a lively and staggering presentation.]
• 4:00 p H311: Alien Genres What will non-human romance novels be like? Alien mysteries? Westerns? Science Fiction??? Elizabeth Caldwell, Tanya Huff, Sue Krinard, Michelle Sagara West (m), Teresa Nielsen Hayden

• 4:30 p Exeter: Reading John Scalzi

• 5:00 p H302: The Monster in the Maze There is a monster. It's lurking in the shadows, waiting. There is always a monster. It might be the Minotaur in the Labyrinth of Crete or an alien aboard a deserted spaceship, but it is always there. Why? What is the monster, if it's more than the dark shadow of the self. Explore the monsters that haunt our sleeping and waking hours, and how we may (with luck and wisdom) find and defeat them. Discuss some works that did this (and examine if they did it successfully) Stephen Dedman, Neil Gaiman, Simon R. Green, Yves Meynard, Robert Sheckley
• 5:00 p H306: Meta-Gay: Has G/L/B/T Been Mainstreamed? Used to be you had to look long and hard to find g/l/b/t characters in science fiction and fantasy; now they're everywhere! And the list of our g/l/b/t genre authors could keep you reading for years. Is there anything unique that the g/l/b/t community still has to offer to science fiction and fantasy? To fandom? (The 2004 Gaylactic Spectrum Awards will be presented during this panel.) Billie Aul (m), Melissa Scott, Jed Shumsky

• 5:30 p Exeter: Reading Elizabeth Bear

• [*] 8:00 p Auditorium: The Hugo Awards

• 10:00 p H206: Genre Erotica Why would you write SF/F/H erotica when you can just write SF/F/H? When you could just write erotica? What things can you do in this cross-genre that you really can't do anywhere else? Doesn't all this genre stuff just get in the way of the main point of the erotica? Give examples. Explore the edges of sexuality . . . the displacement of desire and repression, sex and power relationships, trans- sexual or transpecies (or simply transcendent?) sex . . . or just talk about sex, death, and rock and roll . . . Billie Aul (m), Stephen Dedman, Melanie Fletcher, Victoria McManus, Cecilia Tan

Sunday:

• 10:00 a H306: Grow Old Along With Me: Aging Your Characters Why get stuck in adolescence? Middle age is another quest/rite of passage, and so is old age/death. How do you help your characters grow old (gracefully, or not)? How do you work with those parts of the voyage through life in your work? Or, are we being merely mercenary-to sell to an aging market segment?(Or, because we grow old, we grow old . . . ?) Lois McMaster Bujold, Nancy Kress (m), Jean Lorrah, Steve Miller, John Scalzi, Susan Shwartz
• 10:00 a H309: The Art of Titles Where do titles come from? Are they about art, or more about marketing? Who selects the title-the author or editor/publisher? Can you tell a book's content by its title-and should you? Are there great books with bad titles, and vice versa? Give examples. What are the ten best titles in SF? Why? Kathryn Cramer (m), Thomas Harlan, Fruma Klass, Terry Pratchett, Gordon Van Gelder
• 10:00 a H312: The Best Books of 2004 (so far) You know those hateful people who somehow keep up with their reading? They're all on this panel. They'll share which current works of science fiction, fantasy, horror, and slipstream it's a shame you're missing. Charles N. Brown, John Clute, Jonathan Strahan (m)

• 11:00 a H203: Criticism or Review? Is there really a difference? Discuss. F. Brett Cox, Gregory Feeley (m), Daniel Grotta, Graham Sleight, Takayuki Tatsumi [Though, my reaction is, "Yes." So maybe not, especially not in the morning.]
• 11:00 a H306: DOA: Books that Died Despite Everything Well-known author, well-developed plot, thorough marketing plan, yet the book fails to thrive. Why? Did it show too much ambition or too little? Was it old-fashioned, or ahead of its time? Were the stars wrong, or the season, or were we simply coming down with the flu? Let us count all the sad ways good books go bad . . . Our panel will discuss the phenomenon from multiple viewpoints. John Jarrold, Jane Jewell (m), Patrick Nielsen Hayden, Janna Silverstein, Jonathan Strahan, Jacob Weisman
• 11:00 a H310: The Age of Fighting Sail Isn't Over: It's Moved to SF Shiver me titanium timber if this wet navy/space navy transposition hasn't gotten even more popular than ever! Who are its leading practitioners-have we got another Patrick O'Brian yet? Can this metaphor survive real space travel? And talking about "sailing through space," take a quick look at how nautical fiction is related to space opera and hard SF . . . look at characters and commanders, story lines, missions, venues, dangers, and bureaucracy! Shivermetimbers, if "Sou' by West by Port o' West and Weather the Lizard" doesn't sound nearly as romantic in GPS-ese . . . John G. Hemry, Jim Mann (m), Susan Shwartz, Walter Jon Williams [Oh, sartorias, if only you were here . . . ]

• [*] 12:00 n H312: Reading (1 hour) Terry Pratchett

• 1:00 p H306: Confronting Your Characters A participant will take on the role of an author's main character, and complain to the writer how badly the writer has treated him/her. The writer gets to respond . . . Hilari L. Bell (m), Carol Berg, Lois McMaster Bujold, Steve Miller, Elizabeth Moon
• 1:00 p H312: Beyond Sex Writing sex scenes is easy, but conveying the ebbs and flows of a meaningful romantic relationship is harder to do. How do authors do this successfully? David B. Coe (m), George R. R. Martin, Victoria McManus, Laura Resnick, Melinda Snodgrass [David Coe is a good moderator, and Laura Resnick used to write genre romance—but GRRM? And does anyone else object to the first clause of the description?]

• 2:00 p Autographing: Hilari L. Bell, Sheila Finch, John M. Ford, Mitchell Freedman, Harry Harrison, Ellen Kushner, Connie Willis [If I haven't already had a chance to stammer like an idiot fangirl.]

• [?] 3:00 p H302: Creating Gods Gods are important characters in fantasy works from mythology to the Silmarillion to Saberhagen's "Swords" novels to Discworld. How does one introduce superbeings into a work without pushing the human characters into insignificance? Gods are often gigantic projections of human characteristics. Can they serve other functions as well? Additionally, why are polytheistic settings so common in fantasy? What are the sources that authors are using, and why? And why do readers find them so compelling? Lois McMaster Bujold (m), David B. Coe, Glen Cook, George R. R. Martin, Tamora Pierce, Jo Walton

• [*] 4:00 p H107: What's New from Tor A presentation of recent and forthcoming works published by Tor Books, along with a brief Q&A about the books. Come see the pretty pictures (i.e., cover art). Listen to the editors wax rhapsodic. There will be door prizes! David G. Hartwell, Beth Meacham, James Minz, Patrick Nielsen Hayden

• 5:00 p H311: The Effects of Litigation on the Future Do the courts threaten our ability to make scientific and technical advances? (And-is this a good or bad thing?) What is the place of litigation in today's society-and what are the trends that might brighten or darken our future?) Christopher Cevasco (m), Harold Feld, Melinda Snodgrass [Though I probably won't want to talk law because I am going to have to bring far too much work to the con.]

• [*] 7:00 p : dinner

• [?] 8:30 p Auditorium: The Masquerade [I dunno, I've never really seen one.]

Monday:

• 11:00 a H206: Warping the Classics Perverse interpretations of classical SF and Fantasy. LOTR as a musical comedy or a Klingon parable? A Christmas Carol featuring Scrooge as a time-traveling mutant? Arrgh! Mike Conrad, John M. Ford, Mark Mandel, John Pomeranz (m), Darrell Schweitzer
• 11:00 a H304: Images of Loss in LOTR Much of the power of LOTR comes from the deep sense of loss that fills it: the elves' loss of Middle Earth, Men's loss of life, Frodo's loss of the Shire, Arwen's loss of immortality-and there are many others, even Gollum's loss of the Ring. Bittersweet images all. Is this sense of loss essential to the enduring strength of Tolkien's universe? Would we love it as much without the final image of the magic leaving Middle Earth, as the elves (and ring bearers) take the straight path across the sea to the West . . . ? Debra Doyle, Mary Kay Kare (m), Patrick Nielsen Hayden, Jo Walton
• 11:00 a H312: The Serious Side of Terry Pratchett Other writers examine the message behind the merriment in the works of one of our Guests of Honor. What themes occur throughout? How does he combine wisdom with humor? Esther Friesner, Tanya Huff, Peter Morwood, Graham Sleight (m)

• 11:30 a Dalton: Enjoying J.D. Robb Priscilla Olson

• [*] 1:00 p Dalton: The Fiction of Diana Gabaldon Why is her Outlander series so popular? Fans discuss this SF/Romance crossover. Sandra McDonald [I have to go, I suggested it!]

• 2:00 p H312: How Do You Know When You're Dead? The movie The Sixth Sense was not the first fiction to feature a character who is dead. Niven's Inferno, Connie Willis' Passages, and Philip José Farmer's Riverworld series all have protagonists who are dead or die and continue to be featured players. What other fiction features dead people? (And we don't mean vampires-but why not?) Are there any restrictions on the actions of dead people? What are some of the reactions of the characters who find themselves dead? Are there advantages to having a dead protagonist? Should we always fear the walking dead? What do they have to tell us? (Must we listen? Do they lie?) Do they return to harm or advise us? Do they come to warn or blame, comfort or prophesize? Do they offer us forgiveness or courage, or perhaps death itself? Discuss the use of the returning dead, and explain why they are such fascinating subjects. Scott Edelman (m), Neil Gaiman, Larry Niven, Terry Pratchett, Uncle River, Connie Willis

Well, that really killed the hour I was planning to use for legal research . . .